Purse with attached loss-preventing device



Sept. 15, 1953 E. c. HENDERSON PURSE WITH ATTACHED LOSS-PREVENTING DEVICE 2 Sheet's-Shee'r. 1

Filed Oct. 29, 1951 INVENTOR.

E400 Cl/ENDEfi-IOIV BY A: Anne/wry ept. 15, 1953 E. c. HENDERSON PURSE WITH ATTACHED LOSS-PREVENTING DEVICE Filed Oct. 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. I

ELDO/V C. HENDERSON HIS ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PUB/SE WITH ATTACHED LOSS-PREVENTING DEVICE This invention relates to purses having attached thereto a hinged guard tab to prevent loss from pockets of articles of clothing, such as trouser pockets, As used in the present specification and claims, the term purse includes billfolds, pocket "books, wallets and the like.

In my copending applications Ser. No. 59,549, filed November '12, 1948, new l atent'No. 2,580,296, and ESer. No. 159,120, filed April 29, 1950, new Patent No. 2,607,385, of which this application is a continuation-in-part, there are claimed loss preventing devices for purses that are detachably engaged with purses; the invention claimed herein relates to the cernbinationof the purse with a thin, stiff guard tab that is permanen 'ly fixed to the purse.

Various mechanical safety attachments for billfolds, pocketbooks and the like have been proposed heretofore, but have for various reasons not gained wide acceptance. Devices having wire frames or pivoted rig-id arms mounted on the purse to swing outwar ly from the side edges of the purse after it has been inserted into the pocket for engaging the pocket lining and thereby preventing extraction through the poche opening are often complicated or tend to wear out the pocket lining at the point of contact, or distend the pocket to the extent of deforming the clothing and detracting from the neat appearance thereof, or cause discomfort to the wearer, or are apt to get out of order, or suffer from more than one of these Some of the known safety devices of the above mentioned types, as well as other types employing clamps or grips which engage the clothing are time-consuming in that the purse cannot be rapidly inserted into the pocket or extracted'th refrom.

It is, therefore, an object of "this invention to provide an improved loss-preventing device that is secured permanently to a purse for securing the purse within the pocket of an article of clothing which device is structurally simple and has as few mechanical elem nts as possible and causes no personal. discomfort in its use.

It is a further object to provia security against accidental loss and unauthorized removal of a purse from a pocket 'by means of a guard tab which is secured to the purse by hinge means, the guard tah being extremely simple in opera tion and installation and being so constructed as to avoid the danger of "wearing out or distending the pocket lining or the tendency to distend the clothing to the extent of being noticeable to the eye,

Other objects are to provide means for securing a purse against loss from a pocket which adds but little bulk to the purse and which can be manufactured at low cost,

Briefly, according to the present invention, the purse is provided with a guard tab made of thin, stiff sheet material connected by a hinge of flexible material that is fastened, e. g., by stitching, to the side edge of the purse, i. e., at the edge which is perpendicular to the pocket opening when the purse is in its normal position within the pocket. In the usual case the pocket opening is substantially horizontal and the said side edge of the purse is vertical. The hinge is constructed to operate on a hinge line which is parallel to said side edge and is fixed to the guard tab, i. e., inirnovably connected thereto, either permanently or detachably. The hinge is, further, fixed to the purse. The guard tab is of such width (measured in a direction perpendicular to the hinge line) that when it in its operative, unfolded position (extending away from the purse) the aggregate width of the guard tab of the purse and of the hinge exceed slightly the width of the mouth or opening of the pocket, thereby preventing extraction thereof through said mouth or opening. By folding the guard tab about the hinge such width may be reduced, thereby permitting passage of the purse and guard tab through the opening.

In the preferred embodiment the hinge is made of flexible material, such as fabric, imitation leather (Leatherette), leather, cilcloth, flexible plastic sheet material, etc, and is so secured to the guard tab as to maintain it in spaced relation to the purse to facilitate folding of the guard tab over the outer face of the purse and substantially parallel to such face when the guard tab is moved to its inoperative position to permit passage of the purse through the pocket opening. lhe size of the interval between the stiff guard tab and the purse will, of course, depend upon the thickness of the purse. The hinge of flexible material is preferably, but not necessarily, constructed so as to have a natural tendency to unfold the guard tab to its operative position, thereby facil" 'itating use and making it possible to secure the purse within the pocket without the need to grasp the guard tab when it is folded alongside of the purse for unfolding it With this preferred construction the guard tab, when released, tends to unfold by the force of the hinge, although it usually is prevented from moving entirely to its operative position because of engagement with the pocket lining; it is merely necessary to distend the lining momentarily, permitting the guard tab to complete its movement to operative position.

The width of the guard tab is, in the preferred form, somewhat less than the width of the purse, thereby facilitating movement of the guard tab on its hinge while in the pocket.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and showing two preferred embodiments of the invention by way of illustration. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a part of a purse in open position with a guard tab according to the invention affixed thereto and in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section view taken. on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation view of the purse of Fig. 1 secured in closed position within a trouser pocket, the pocket lining being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 but showing the guard tab folded to permit extraction of the purse;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a purse pro-- vided with a modified guard tab that is fully covered by flexible material, the purse being in open position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the purse of Fi 5 in closed or folded position, with the guard tab in its inoperative position permitting the purse to be inserted into or withdrawn from a pocket; and

Fig. 7 is an elevation view of the purse of Fig- 5 secured within a trouser pocket, the lining being shown in section.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the same type of purse is shown in all views as a billfold of conventional construction having a pair of walls 36, 3 I, each having opposite end edges 32 and 33 and the wall 3| having opposite side edges 34 and 35, of which the edge 34 is a fold where the two walls meet. The walls are secured together by suitable means, such as stitching, not shown. The two walls provide a pocket 36 that is open at the side edge 35. The guard tab to be described is fixed to the wall 3| at one of the side edges thereof, preferably at the free edge 35 by means of a hinge of flexible material that is stitched to the purse at 38.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the loss-preventing guard tab II is made of any thin, relatively stiff sheet material such as plastic sheeting, Celluloid, glazed cardboard, pressed fiberboard or metal, and consists preferably of a single sheet that possesses some degree of resiliency to permit flexure to the extent indicated in Fig. 4; this fiexure will permit the tab to conform to the shape of the body and clothing of the wearer to a certain extent. The guard tab has upper and lower edges I2 and I3 (edge I2 appearing toward the bottom of the drawing in Fig. 1 due to the position of the purse), an outer edge I4 that is preferably inclined toward the purse at the end nearer the lower edge I3, and an inner edge I5. The outer top corner may be rounded as shown at I6 and the lower, outer corner may be cut away as shown at I I.

The guard tab is secured to the purse with the inner edge I5 spaced from the edge 35 of the purse by a hinge I8. The hinge comprises a pair of tapes or strips of flexible material such as silk or cotton fabric, leather, oilcloth, imitation leather, or the like, capable of permitting and withstanding repeated fiexures, shown at I!) and 20, secured to the opposite faces of the guard tab and to the purse as shown in Fig. 2. Connection of the tapes may be by any suitable means such as an adhesive and/or stitching. It was found in practice that the use of adhesive alone permits the tapes to slide or creep gradually over the smooth surfaces of many sheet materials when the purse is put to extended use and that stitching is desirable to prevent such relative movement; for this purpose stitching, as indicated at 2|, is preferably used. While stitching may constitute the sole means of securing the tapes to the guard tab it is preferred to use adhesive in addition to prevent the outer edges of the tape from becoming frayed with use. The parts of the tapes I9 and 29 between the purse and the guard tab are preferably brought together and joined by adhesive or by stitching. The two tapes are stitched to the purse at 38.

The aggregate width of the purse, the interval separating it from the guard tab and the guard tab itself, measured from the outermost part of the edge I4 to the remote edge 34 of the purse, is slightly greater than the width of the mouth or opening of the pocket of clothing within which the purse is to be secured, e. g., a hip trouser pocket. The aggregate width of the guard tab and the said interval, measured from the outermost part of the edge I4 to the near edge 35 of the purse, is somewhat less than the width of the purse to permit the purse to be inserted into or withdrawn from the pocket when the guard tab is folded as shown in Fig. 4. By cutting off the corner at I1 and rounding the corner at IS the guard tab fits better within the pocket and can be more easily folded and unfolded on the hinge without binding when in the pocket.

When in place within the rear hip pocket the purse is usually positioned with the guard tab toward the center of the body and the hinge vertical, as shown in Fig. 3, the longer edge I2 being on top. This upper edge I2 can thereby engage the inner side of the pocket liining where it is contracted at the pocket mouth for preventing accidental or unauthorized extraction of the purse.

In using the purse, to insert it into the pocket, the purse is first folded to closed position and the guard tab II is folded over the outer face of the wall 3|, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, such folding being possible because of the interval between the edges I5 and 35. The purse is then grasped in folded position and lowered through the opening 22 of the pocket with the hinge vertical and the longer horizontal edge I2 of the guard tao uppermost. The guard tab is then released or moved by the finger to unfold it, the lining 23 of the pocket being moved away from the purse a small distance to permit the tab to rotate to the operative position shown in Fig. 3. It may be noted that the invention is not limited to the use of hinges that possess sufficient resiliency to cause the tab to unfold without assistance. It is evident that the purse will not pass through the pocket opening when the tab is thus unfolded.

To remove the purse from the pocket the tab II is folded over the outer wall 3|, as indicated in Fig. 4, permitting extraction through the mouth 22 of the pocket.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 5-7 differs from that described above in the construction of the guard tab and binge. The tab is made of a piece 39 of any thin, relatively stiff sheet serial, such as those previously mentioned, I. h is completely encased within the flexible material er that forms the hinge and that is stitched to the purse at 38. The hinge material made of highly flexible material as previously mentioned; however, to harmonize with the purse and to prevent wear due to rubbing against the pocket lining, it is preferable to make it of material that matches the purse, such as imitation leather. This embodiment illustrates a difierent suitable outline for the guard tab. In this embodiment it is advantageous to form the combined hinge and tab cover 31 of a single piece that is folded over the upper edge of the tab and stitched near the margins. The stiiT tab 39 is, as in the previous embodiment, spaced from the near edge 35 of the purse to permit folding over the wall SI of the purse as shown in Fig. 6.

This embodiment is used in the manner described above, being shown in Fig. 6 with the guard tab folded in inoperative position to permit entry through the mouth 4| of a trouser pocket and shown in. Fig. 7 in operative position within the lining M of the pocket.

Because the combined purse and guard tab is of fixed width when in operative position and does not bear resiliently against the pocket lining the tendency to wear the lining is minimized.

Various changes may be made in the forms of the invention shown herein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a purse having side edges adapted to enter the pocket of an article of clothing through the constricted mouth thereof with the said side edges perpendicular to the mouth; a guard tab of thin, stiff, sheet material extending beyond one of said side edges; and a hinge made of thin, flexible material, operable on a hinge line substantially parallel to said one side edge, said material being permanently fixed to said guard tab and to the purse along the said one side thereof and adapted to permit said guard tab to be folded over the outer face of said purse by flexure of the flexible material, the distance from the edge of the guard tab that is remote from the purse to the remote side edge of the purse being slightly greater than the width of said mouth to prevent extraction of the purse from the pocket when the guard tab is extended and the width of the guard tab being not substantially greater than the width of the purse between said side edges thereof to permit passage of the purse through said mouth when the guard tab is folded over the outer face of the purse.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the flexible material constituting the hinge is stitched to the purse and the edge of the guard tab adjacent to said one edge is spaced therefrom to leave an interval.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the hinge comprises a pair of sheets of flexible material afiixed to the opposite faces of the guard tab both said sheets being affixed to the purse near the said one edge thereof.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein the sheets of flexible material extend over the said faces of the guard tab only over narrow strips adjoining the edge thereof which is adjacent to the purse.

5. The combination according to claim 3 -wherein the sheets of flexible material cover the entire faces of the guard tab.

ELDON C. HENDERSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,176,387 Blakey Oct. 17, 1939 2,435,032 Campbell Jan. 27, 1948 2,448,398 Schwartz Aug. 31, 1948 2,580,296 Henderson Dec. 25, 1951 

